agoraphobia

/ˌæɡ.ə.ɹəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/

//ˌæɡ.ə.ɹəˈfəʊ.bi.ə// noun

"agoraphobia" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“agoraphobia” is uncommon English (frequency #63,408 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#63,408
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The fear of wide open spaces, crowds, or uncontrolled social conditions.

Corpus desk

Index EN-agoraphobia · agoraphobia · English

agoraphobia · rank #63,408 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #63,408
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Aeneid

Nearest frequency peer: Aeneid (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “agoraphobia”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “agoraphobia” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for agoraphobia
PropertyValue
Headwordagoraphobia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌæɡ.ə.ɹəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/
Letters11
Frequency rank#63,408
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “agoraphobia” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).agoraphobiafalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Aeneid” (#63,407), “airpower” (#63,409), “ADU” (#63,406). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “agoraphobia” is #63,408. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

agoraphobia is uncommon English at frequency #63,408 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌæɡ.ə.ɹəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for agoraphobia, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin agoraphobia, from Ancient Greek ἀγορά (agorá, “assembly”) + φοβία (phobía, “fear”). By surface analysis, agora + -phobia. Coined by Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal in 1871. The correct English form is agoraphobia, spelled A-G-O-R-A-P-H-O-B-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    The fear of wide open spaces, crowds, or uncontrolled social conditions.
  2. 2
    An aversion to markets.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how agoraphobia appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Now, you know that the classical analytical explanation of agoraphobia of the early 1900s was that it represented a street phobia because the patient equated streetwalking with prostitutional activity[…]
  2. For quotations using this term, see Citations:agoraphobia.

Etymology

From Latin agoraphobia, from Ancient Greek ἀγορά (agorá, “assembly”) + φοβία (phobía, “fear”). By surface analysis, agora + -phobia. Coined by Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal in 1871.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "agoraphobia"?
"agoraphobia" is spelled A-G-O-R-A-P-H-O-B-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌæɡ.ə.ɹəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/.
What does "agoraphobia" mean?
As a noun, "agoraphobia" means: The fear of wide open spaces, crowds, or uncontrolled social conditions.
How do you pronounce "agoraphobia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "agoraphobia" is /ˌæɡ.ə.ɹəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "agoraphobia"?
From Latin agoraphobia, from Ancient Greek ἀγορά (agorá, “assembly”) + φοβία (phobía, “fear”). By surface analysis, agora + -phobia. Coined by Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal in 1871. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "agoraphobia", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list